"All Dressed" Cauliflower Cheese
Cauliflower is a really popular low-carb option these days for those who are looking to cut back on their carbs. It is one of several vegetables considered to be Cruciferous vegetables, or members of the brassica family.
The brassica family includes cabbages, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc. and I don't mind saying that I love all of them, and cauliflower is one of my favourites.
Oddly enough it is not a vegetable that we ever had when I was growing up. My dad was not fond of any of the brassicas and so my mom just never cooked them, although he will now eat them when served as he recognises that they are very good for you!
Low carb eaters eat a lot of cauliflower. They chop it up really finely and use it instead of rice . . . they mash it and use it like mashed potatoes, but I will confess. Its still just cauliflower to me. I don't get any similarity to rice or potatoes.
Having said that I like it anyways and will never turn down a plate full of cauliflower.
This is a jazzed up version of Cauliflower cheese. It has a few things added that you won't normally find in a cauliflower cheese.
Hot pepper sauce and crisp cooked bacon and sliced spring onions in the main. I like the green Tabasco sauce myself. It has a nice flavour.
Today I used a vintage cheddar for this and I like to grate my own. To be honest I never use already grated cheese. They add something to it to keep it flowing easily and I think this alters the results you get when cooking.
Bear in mind the nicer the flavour of the cheddar you use, the nicer the flavour of the finished dish.
You don't have to add the bacon. It just adds a bit of something nice that I like because lets face it . . . what doesn't taste better with bacon!
I could sit and eat a plate of this and nothing else and be quite, quite, quite happy!
Yield: 4
"All Dressed" Cauliflower Cheese
This is a delicious version of Cauliflower Cheese. You can have it as a main course with a few other vegetables, or as a side dish to other dishes. You can make it a vegetarian main simply by leaving out the bacon.
ingredients:
- 1 head of cauliflower, broken into florets
- 1 TBS butter
- 1 large clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 1/2 TBS flour
- 240ml whole milk (1 cup)
- 2 TBS cream cheese
- 90g grated strong cheddar cheese, divided (3/4 cup)
- 1 tsp green Tabasco sauce
- fine sea salt and white pepper to taste
- 3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 2 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
instructions:
How to cook "All Dressed" Cauliflower Cheese
- Blanche your cauliflower florets in a pot of lightly salted boiling water for two to three minutes, drain well and set aside. Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F gas mark 4.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan. When it begins to foam add the garlic, and cook for about a minute until it is quite fragrant. Whisk in the flour. Cook for a minute to cook out the flour taste, Slowly whisk in the milk, bring to a low simmer until it begins to bubble and thicken. Whisk in the cream cheese and 60g/1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese, whisking until both are melted. Whisk in the Tabasco sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour over the cooked cauliflower and add all but 1 TBS of the chopped bacon and 1 TBS of the chopped spring onions. Mix together well.
- Butter a 7 by 11 baking dish. Pour the cauliflower mixture into the dish, levelling it out. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes until bubbling and the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven, scatter the remaining bacon and spring onion on top and serve immediately.
Wrap up any leftovers and store it covered in the refrigerator. You can also pack them up and freeze them for another time. I guarantee you will enjoy this easy and delicious casserole!
Up tomorrow: Something fishy!
